Does Handoff work with Voiceover?

By Gaurav J, 3 August, 2015

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Has anybody tried using handoff with Apple Mail, Safari etc?

I am able to use my Macbook Pro for making and receiving text messages when my iPhone is nearby. However i am not able to get the handoff feature to work with Safari, apple Mail and other such applications.

I am using a 2013 Macbook Pro, and an iPhone 6 with Voiceover enabled.

Options

Comments

By Daniel on Monday, August 24, 2015 - 23:27

Hello,
The handoff icon will be located either in the dock when it appears, or you can command+tab through open apps like normal, and VoiceOver will say "from iPhone, handoff badge iPhone" to indicate you're on the correct app.

By Gaurav J on Monday, August 24, 2015 - 23:27

I have watched a number of videos and read a few tutorials on how to setup handoff, and yet i somehow am not able to get it to work on my devices.

As mentioned, i have been able to setup phone calls and text messages on my Macbook Pro - but the handoff feature where icons appear on the dock, just doesn't seem to work for me.

I am using the latest OS on my Mac and iPhone, and i have also verified that my hardware supports Handoff.

By Anrevival on Monday, August 24, 2015 - 23:27

I also am able to get it to work. It's not really that hard, you just check the box that says allow hand off in the settings.

By KE7ZUM on Monday, August 24, 2015 - 23:27

I also cannot get it to work. it works fine for calls texts and stuff, but not for mail or safari. The icons also don't appear in the doc. Also in osx settings there is no hand off check box as far as I can see.

I've started a message in ios and have been unable to finish it in osx. I've been a computer user for 20 years so this should be easy but for some reason us voice over users cannot get this to work in everything save calls and texts, as far as receiving them anyway.

By Sebby on Monday, January 24, 2022 - 23:27

May be device-dependent. You can reliably test it for yourself, though, if you're affected and meet the documented Handoff requirements. Simply turn off VoiceOver on your device prior to locking the screen, and turn it on after unlocking it again. Whilst unlocked, handoff should be working. Don't lock your device with VoiceOver running if you wish to continue using Handoff. You'd be forgiven for thinking this wasn't specific to VoiceOver, too, because while Handoff is disabled on iOS, your Mac can't see it even when an affected app is frontmost on your iOS device. Also because Handoff is highly fragile anyway, being as it is dependent on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth proximity and a sophisticated, undocumented ad-hoc wireless protocol. The calls and SMS forwarding, furthermore, do not rely on this technology--they require just the cloud, and local Wi-Fi networking.

If you're affected and you know it, tell Apple. Also take the opportunity to lament this sort of scandalous failure in quality control, while you're about it. Only be polite. We want it fixed. The functionality itself, when it works, is perfectly accessible.

By Holger Fiallo on Monday, January 24, 2022 - 23:27

Hope it works for iPad. I got an iPhone 12 pro and Friday I am getting iPad 9 gen.

By Sebby on Monday, January 24, 2022 - 23:27

I've found that turning off Screen Curtain is sufficient to fix the problem entirely. You might try that.

I sent Apple some diagnostics they asked for. I hope it helps them. Handoff is a really awesome feature, when it works, in a strikingly modest yet powerful way.